
s 



Class __^^^^^^^ 



Book 
Copyright]^" 



■'^r 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 





BY 



NELLIE SEE LYE EVANS, 

(Mrs. Dudi,e;y Kvans.) 



PRESS PRINTING ESTABI^ISHMENT,, 

ENGI^EWOOD, N. J., 

1906. 

Copyright igo6, by the Author. 



! LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

APR 19 1906 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS dj XXc. No. 



9^1 



,^ n \-:f) 



.¥3^ ^"^ 



THIS BOOK IS DKDICATKD TO THE MEMORY OF 

/!D^ Son, 

RAWIvKY DUDIvBY BVANS. 
(Died April i6, 1905). 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



NATURE. 

Page 

Content , . 17 

My Sunday Walk ....... 18 

Sunrise on Mt. Rainier 20 

lyove in Winter 21 

My Lady Hyacinth 22 

House Cleaning Time ....... 23 

Spring at "Brooklawn" 24 

Canon of the Little Big Horn 25 

The Mushroom 26 

Sweetheart 27 

Summer 28 

Spring 29 

Rose in a Glass ........ 30 

A Sunset 31 

Trifles 33 

Oregon Pine ......... 34 

Spring in Town ........ 35 

Titania Regina ........ 36 

The Wind 37 

Circumstance ......... 38 

Companions ......... 39 



viii CONTENTS, 

Page 

Roses on a Birthday 40 

Portland Heights Revisited 41 

The Warbler in a Summer Shower .... 42 

In Autumn ......... 43 

Neighbors ......... 44 

Mt. Hood 45 

On a Picture of the Berkeley Oaks .... 46 

Arizona Cactus ........ 47 

Aurora Borealis ........ 48 

CHILDHOOD. 

At Dawn .......... 5^ 

Burney Boy ......... 52 

Ivittle Sweetheart 53 

To My Boy 54 

The House of Childhood -55 

Ruth 56 

To a Child, Two Years Old 57 

Motherhood 58 

A City Item > • • • 59 

To a Child of Three 60 

Enthroned 61 

Christmas in the Tenements ..... 62 

LIFE. 

The Poet 65 

At "The Bells," in the White Mountains ... 66 



CONTENTS. ix 

Page 

Love 70 

Emily Dickinson 71- 

Riches 'ji 

A Portrait 73 

Her Voice ......... 74 

Discovery ......... 75 

Glory 76 

Character ......... 77 

The Teacher . 78 

The Oregon Pioneer 79 

Happiness 80 

Gossip 81 

Telegram Sent for a Golden Wedding .... 82 

The Grey Sea-gull ....... 83 

Ambition 85 

Luther Burbank ........ 86 

Ella Higginson 87 

The Egoist 88 

A Silver Wedding Day 90 



Hate 



91 



Alter Ego 92 

Habit 93 

To My Father 94 

The Reformer 95 

Care 96 

Life 97 

To Mother 98 



X CONTENTS. 

Page 

Admiral Sampson 99 

Convalescence . . . . . . • . . loo 

Change loi 

DEATH AND GRIEF. 

In Memoriam 105 

The Dead Poet 107 

On My Birthday 109 

The Conqueror no 

Heaven .......... in 

Friendship Lost . . . . . . . . 112 

Memorial Day . . . 113 

Retrospect 114 

Prelude to " Tristan and Isolde" 115 

" The Crystal Coast" Il6 

At a Church Door 117 

The Unbidden Guest 118 

Her Grave 119 

A Faded Flower from Shelley's Grave . . . 120 

Escaped 121 

Immortality 122 

Grasses from Keats' Grave ...... 123 

Guido Reni's " Ecce Homo" 124 

Recompense . . . . . . . . . 125 

Anton Seidl 126 

The Fault ......... 127 

The Kiss 128 



CONTENTS. xi 

Page 

TTie Grave of Helen Hunt Jackson .... 129 

Equality ......... 130 

The Dead Pauper . . joj 

On the Shore 1^2 

Evolution T-,^ 

The Color Bearer .... ti* 

Under Oregon Pines 135 

Mater Patriae . . . . • . . . . 136 

The First Wound 138 

Christ the Consoler 139 



POEMS OF OCCASION. 

The Return 143 

Unveiling of the R. E. Lee Statue .... 146 

The Loyal Rebel I4y 

In Meridian ......... 148 

A Class Poem 1^3 

Song 155 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

" Alis Volat Propriis" i^g 

"Scherzo" jgo 

Autumn on the Monongahela 161 

Lines on a Cameo Brooch ...... 162 

Wordsworth ••....... 163 

J. F. Millet 164 



xii CONTENTS. 

Page 

Venus de Milo ....;... 165 

A Mexican Shrine 166 

Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac . . . . . 167 

Wagner's Siegfried 168 

Art 169 

Dresden China ........ 170^ 

To an Automobile 171 

With a Cup and Saucer ...... 172 

For a Scrap-book 173. 

California Oranges ....... 174 

Questioning 175 

The Roses' Farewell . 17S 



NATURE. 



WEST AND EAST. 



DENE A TH the fragrant deep-fringed pine 

I waited long^ O Muse of mine I 
Thy light wing touched the bought and then^ 
Swift as a bird had flown again. 

Here on these older shores I find 
The foot-prints thou hast left behind. 
All but the rapture of the chase 
Lost, with thy dream-haunting face ! 



NATURE 



CONTENT. 

T ITTI,E I ask, a day in June, 

And then, perhaps — a rose. 
An hour with the crescent moon, 
That joy the thrush bestows. 

Too rich are they who ask for more, 

No lordly hunger know, 
Who would the Summer's warmth devour. 

And ostracize the snow. 

Frost has a beauty dew's denied, 

And windy days a charm, 
The abstinence that Nature shows. 

To keep her realm from harm. 



Evglewood^ N,J., i8g6. 



i8 POEMS. 



MY SUNDAY WALK. 

n^HE hillside pathway beckons me, 

It leads me up and on 
Where walls of blue pellucid air 
Shut out dull noise and gloomy care, 
Fair heights to dwell upon. 

The purple Brodia welcomes me 

Empress of wayside fields, 
No jewelled monarch can outvie 
The sheen of her imperial dye, 
Such tincture April yields. 

No leaflet falls, no flower departs 

But I can feel it go; 
The fellowship our spirits own 
Within the wide mysterious zone 

Of nature here below. 

The bee upon his punctual round 

Nods gravely as I pass, 
Older than Nineveh the mound 
The ants are building on the ground 

Under the sun-dried grass 



POEMS, 19, 

Question of questions : Who is wise ? 

What spins the morning dew ? 
Who taught the tree to seek the stream ? 
Who laid the rainbow's crystal beam? 

What paints the iris blue ? 

From good earth-mother's larger store 

I ask no great bequest, — 
The homely friendship of the pine 
The brotherhood of birds is mine, 

Such gifts as these are best. 

San Rajael^ California, ic/02. 



^o POEMS. 



SUNRISE ON MT. RAINIER. 

T SAW a new Apocalypse ! 
The Seraphim, the Sea 
Of pearl and fire mingled, 
The gates of God, — while He 
In awful splendor waited 
For morning to unfold. 
Be lifted, O my trembling soul ! 
Be wise, be pure, be bold ! 



JEnglewood, N. J. 



POEMS. 21 



LOVE IN WINTER. 

"rjKCEMBKR is not bleak to me, 

There's bud and bloom on every tree; 
And lo ! beyond these wintry skies 
The dearer April of her eyes ! 



Englewood, N. /. 



12 POEMS. 



MY LADY HYACINTH. 

Tars of purple, pearl, and blue. 

Quick she fills with iiectared dew; 
All the odors Summer knows 
On cold April she bestows. 

I^ifeless though the garden be, 
Here she holds a quaint levee; 
Lords and ladies, courtiers gay. 
Nodding plumes in rich array. 

Now within my quiet room, 
Tw^o in royal colors bloom, 
Sent by neighbor kind and wise, 
Prophecy of Paradise ! 



Englewoody N,J.^ iSgg, 



POEMS. 23 



HOUSE CLEANING TIME. 

"Duckets — mother-of-pearl — 

March has filled to the brim, 
To drench the hills, and scour 
Roof and steeple trim. 

Pert April follows after, 
To sprinkle dusty corners, 
And hang new tassels on the trees 
For happy owners. 

Then comes a day in May, 
When our good neighbor Sun 

Piles his brooms in amber heaps, 
House cleaning is done. 

While from blue garrets of the sky 
The swallows swarm again; 

And Summer days begin for me 
Their old delicious pain. 



Omaha ^ I^ebraska, i8go. 



24 POEMS. 



SPRING AT •• BROOKLAWN." 

Tn whispering groups the elms foretell 

The secrets of the spring ; 
The brook betrays no confidence 
For all its murmuring. 

And, shy as maid in bridal white, 
The dogwood greets the day, 

Her brown boughs bearing tenderly 
The harmless snows of May. 

" And this is mine," good neighbor says, 
" Sweet lawn, and brook, and tree ; " 

But nature smiles at title deeds 
And gives it all to me. 



Englewood^ N. J. 



POEMS. 25 



CANON OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN. 

P^ SENSE of space, a forest-calm, 

A lifting of the heart, a balm 
That cities know not. Here the sky 
In clear pellucid blue can vie 
With ocean's deep transparency. 
Here in dark pools the silver trout 
Like living opals dream and float, 
The hunter knows the wooded trail. 
The stream he loves sings through its veil 
Of water, green and blue, and gold. 
The song that poets knew of old; 
Night with its stars above his tent 
Sends him sweet dreams, and high content, 
A brother of the birds is he. 
And boon companion to a tree. 
Here Nature lays her cool white hand 
On aching brows; a mighty land 
Where life in larger terms is writ, 
Not bound by narrow city wit. 
But free, and high, as peaks that rise 
Snow-fed, star-led, to the skies ! 



San Francisco^ 1902, 



26 POEMS. 



THE MUSHROOM. 

-^ENT that no warrior shelters, 

Fiercer than the bee: — 
A nocturnal encampment 

Known to the birds and me. 
I feel a quick compunction 

That any should assail 
The good name of this visitant 

And talk of poison pale. 

There is a yellow bandit, 

An outlaw without shame, 
He is assassination, 

And bears a traitor's name; 
But this white satin fellow, 

In the pink pleated vest 
Is courtier of meadows — 

Titania's chosen sruest. 



Englewood, N. J. , j8 



POEMS. 27 



SWEETHEART. 

(To be set to music.) 

'T^HE birds fly over the daisies and clover 

Just so high as my heart, 
Just so high as my heart, Sweetheart, 
Just so high as my heart. 
The June rose faints in her own perfume 
The lilies tall are in snowy bloom 
Just so high as my heart. Sweetheart, 

Just so high as my heart. 

October's wind is at the door, 
Lily and rose shall bloom no more. 
Just so high as my heart, Sweetheart, 
But thou shalt live forevermore, 
Deep in my heart. Sweetheart, 
Deep in my heart. 



Englewood^ N.J., 1893, 



28 POEMS. 



SUMMER. 

'pHK pollen on a bee's wing, 

His hum against the pane, 
Are hints that Summer thinks of us, 

Would woo us back again 
To old beliefs we had in dawns, 

In sunsets, and in dew, — 
Before this hurry blotted out 

The primal me and you. 



EngUwood^ N. J. , jB%. 



POEMS. 29 



SPRING. 

'T^HE lawn's green silk is softly drawn 

About the garden beds, 
Pinned here and there with daisy disks, 

And dandelion's heads. 
O ! I would be a thing with wings 

Forgotten or despised ! 
If only I might fly an hour 

Under these warm Spring skies ! 



Portland^ Oregon. 



30 



PO EMS. 



ROSE IN A GLASS. 



^HiS flower fading all too soon, 

Ivcaves a presence in the room^ 
Dearer than its earlier bloom ! 



Englewood^ N. J. , 1897. 



POEMS. 31 



A SUNSET. 

A CROSS a sea of splendor 

An emerald ship sailed fast, 
Upon her deck an elfin crew, 
A star tipped every mast. 

Beside her were five golden swan 
Whose wings outsped the breeze. 

And deep beneath that magic sea, 
Red grew the coral trees. 

Rare finny creatures of strange hues, 
And shapes of awesome mien, 

Disported in the purple depths 
Of ocean's sunless stream. 

IvO ! in a breath all passed away, 

And on the ashy sk}^ 
A shield of burnished copper hung^ 

Kmbossed with heraldry. 

A city like fair Troy there seemed, 
Guarded by warriors bold, 

And tall Achilles in his tent 
With Agamemnon old. 



32 POEMS. 

Blood-red the shield became, as if 
The thought of that old strife 

Had crimsoned all the heavens in scorn 
Of this tame modern life. 

Dusk came, the scarlet faded out 

Behind the Autumn trees, 
And life seemed larger that the soul 

Had glimpse of scenes like these. 

Englewoody N. y. , 1905. 



POEMS. 33 



TRIFLES. 

^HAT velvet look a dog bestows, 
More^ exquisite than speech, 
The passion of his sad brute heart 
For something out of reach: 

The red upon a robin's breast, 
When March is dull and grey, 

That curve the wheeling swallow makes 
Against the blue of May: 

The purple hint that evening throws 
Across the darkening sky: — 

To me have meaning and impart 
Almost a sympathy. 

Englewood, N,J., iSg6. 



34 POEMS, 



OREGON PINE. 

"VT7H0 boasts of palm, the tropics crown, 
Has never seen the pine step down 
The mountain side in kingly ease, 
Our "Coeur de lyion" warrior of trees. 
The caiion streams white banners fling 
From peak to peak, the fountains sing, 
In widening curve the eagle sweeps 
His dusky wing, and sentry keeps 
Upon the heights where burns a star, 
The pine-king's oriflamme of war ! 



Portland^ Oregon. 



POEMS. 35 



SPRING IN TOWN. 

ATThkn Edith crosses Union Square, 
The sullen fountain leaps in air 
And rings of crimson bloom declare 
'Tis tulip time. 

The sky is blue, tlie birds are here, 
And in the fount her image clear 
Reflects the gladness of the year 
In tulip time. 

Sweet as the violets on her breast 
Her maiden thoughts, and half-confessed 
The secret that the Spring has blessed 
In tulip time. 

Upon a bench I muse and sigh. 
And see ray own youth passing by. 
But thank her for the fantasy 
In tulip time. 



Englewood N. J. 



36 POEMS 



TITANIA REGINA. 

TTThen the foxglove ties her door, 

With a spider's thread, 
When the thistle's mimic fleet 

Snowy sail has spread; 
When the droning beetle nods 

Saying sylvan mass, 
When the frost elves softly weave 

I^aces on the grass, 
Time for sighs and sweet farewell, 
"Fays ! ring Summer's parting knell ! " 



Portland^ Oregon. 



POEMS. 37 



THE WIND. 

t;;^ragiIvE: fingers on the pane, 

Tap, and flit, and tap again: 
Off to whirl the weather-cock, 

Hide in chimney, rattle lock. 
Sift the snow and weave the hail 

To a fleecy bridal veil, 
Whispers he in lover's ear, 

Laughs at childhood's mimic fear 
Beggar, fugitive, and king, 

Mother Nature's changeling. 



Englewood, N. J, 



38 POEMS 



CIRCUMSTANCE. 



'T^His lawn with dew upon 

Is small to thee, 
To sparrow, worm and home. 
His all, — eternity. 



Englezvood, A\j. 



POEMS. 39 



COMPANIONS. 

TTThen hills are green and the earth repeats 

The old, old charm of June, 
We saunter forth, my dog and I, 
To bathe in the blaze of noon. 

His wistful air, his questioning look. 

That woo an answering glance, 
Too eloquent of spirit are 

To be the sport of chance. 

In some far mystic age he learned 

That silence was his part, 
And loyal to an unknown god 

Still trusts his master's heart. 



Englewood, N.J., igoo. 



40 POEMS. 



ROSES ON A BIRTHDAY. 

i( ^EMPUS fugit ! " 
Alas ! it must 
Take life with it. 
There's no Trust 
Big enough to corner Youth, 
Buy the years, or hide the truth. 

Only birthday gift to-day 
Were your roses, and they say, 
"Dews of kindness cheer and shine 
Though the centuries decline." 



Englewood, N.J., i8g8. 



POEMS. 41 



PORTLAND HEIGHTS REVISITED. 

gNRAPTURED, to the crest of this green hill, 
The traveler with thankful step returns, 
To view the enchanting landscape that he kept 
Inviolate through years that wandering earns. 

Homesick for this beauty, he beheld 

Cities and palaces with absent eye, 
How paled Venetia's sunset 'gainst the hue 

Of Hood encrimsoned on the evening sky, 

And fair St. Helen in her cloak of pearl, 
Sentry and guardian of rivers twain 

He saw her beauty through a mist of tears 
Amid the glories of Himalaya's chain. 

So fair is home, so dear the accustomed round 
Of wood and field, of roof and orchard green, 

Wallamet keeps her secret as of old 

But murmurs benedictions in her dream. 



Englewood^ N. J. 



42 POEMS 



AM 

THE WARBLER ^e-M* A SUMMER SHOWER. 



TDhii^osopher of Summer and of sun, 

Indifferent he views the darkening cloud, 
With eye inquisitive he searches me 
Nor fears the lightning proud. 

Fain must he wonder Nature took 

No pains to teach me secrets of the tree, 

Poor coward I of sheltered roof and nook, 
Poorer by far than he. 

When the first raindrops sparkle on his wing 
He flits from view to warn the cherished nest, 

His liquid note a sudden joy imparts 
To my sad human breast. 



Englewood, N. J. , igoi. 



PO EBTS. 



43 



IN AUTUMN. 

(From the French of Paul Verlaine.) 

T^ioi^iNS of Autumn sobbing 

Deep and lone, 
Pierced my heart is with their throbbing 

Monotone. 
Fierce and quick the breath, and choking, 

When at last 
Sounds the hour, and I recall 

The happy past. 
With the truant wind that brought me 

I must go, 
Hither, thither, as this dead leaf 

Whirls below. 

Englewood, JV.J., 1898. 



44 POEMS. 



NEIGHBORS. 

TTE neighbor is, whose voice I kiiow> 

The thrush in yonder tree, — 
The sparrows on my window ledge, 
A cordial company. 

He neighbor is, whose heart is true, 

The squirrel with his store, 
Kconomy is poetry 

Within that mossy door. 

Ah ! Brummel-bluejay, may I take 
That bow to mean a friend ? 

And, since you are in uniform — 
My garden to defend ? 



Englewood, N. /. 



POEMS. 45 



MT. HOOD. 



A MIGHTY form in awiul calm, 

With cloak of gleaming snows 
Like outspread wing of seraphim 
Whose errand no man knows. 

Crowned with a nimbus by each morn 

That tints the eastern sky, 
Or veiled in amethystine mists 

Of night and mystery. 

Afar withdrawn from lower plane 
Where frets this fevered life, 

A silence for our clamor loud 
And calmness for our strife. 

E'en on the common highway mid 

Its toil and din and care, 
How oft we lift the eyes and heart 

To greet thee shining there ! 

The child, the sage, the poet, each 
Thy presence doth inspire, 

And silently the spell is wrought 
That draws our spirits higher ! 



Portland^ Oregon, 1882. 



46 POEMS. 



ON A PICTURE OF THE BERKELEY OAKS. 

'T^His shaded path I never knew, 

These boughs ne'er waved for me, 
Yet in some fairyland of dreams, 

I knew each separate tree. 
And worshipped 'neath their Druid arms, 

Beside an ancient sea. 



Eiiglezvond, N.J., 1904. 



POEMS. 47 

ARIZONA CACTUS. 

TT There pale mirages shift and fade, 

Across the desert's shadeless waste, 
Doomed like prisoners they stand. 
Rank on rank in shape grotesque. 

Here a twisted club uplifted 

Fitted for a Titan's hand, 
There a dial finger marking 

The burning hours on the sand. 

Through the torrid da3-s in silence 

Pulses white the quivering air, 
Dream they not of streams that rush 

Through dewy meadows greenly fair? 

Creatures of some fell enchantment 

Such as haunt a goblin tale. 
Spectral when the moon is furling 

Overhead her crescent sail. 

Nature's outcast children these, 

Naked, fled to desert land, 
Ishmaelites, and thus forever 

Springs a sword within their hand. 

Portland^ Oregon^ 18S7. 



48 POEMS. 



AURORA BOREALIS. 

'T^HERK is a flower of climate rare, 

That never bloomed for me, 
I searched the wood, I searched the moor, 
I robbed the emerald sea. 

Alone upon an icy coast, 

By Arctic's hem it grows, 
Its beauty is intoxicant 

To those who brave the snows. 

But when the Bear shines clear and high 

I dream of Polar night. 
Wherein this wondrous flower blooms 

In sheaves of rainbow light. 

Englewood, N. J. igo6. 



CHILDHOOD. 



POEMS. 51 



CHILDHOOD. 



AT DAWN. 

"DiRDS stir in their nest at dawn, 

A child's soft touch wakes me;. 
We mother-birds await the morn 
With Benedicite. 

Night brings all nestlings home, 

But mine hath flown afar; 
Less worthy than the robin 

I am mother to a star. 



Omaha, Nebraska, i8go. 



52 POEMS. 



BURNEY BOY. 

"Y gentle child, 
My Burney-boy, 
Your eyes are soft and brown, 
As if you caught them from a deer, — 
Yet I saw none in town; 
And then that trusting voice, 
'Tis like the thrush's note 
When Summer's twilight ecstacy 
Is trembling in his throat. 

My gentle child, 

My Burney-boy, 
You have a loving heart; 
'Twill ache, I fear. Ah ! world, be kind. 
Let not the dream depart ! 
The vision only childhood sees, 
And none but angels know. 
These tender feet too soon must meet 
Sad Winter, and the snow. 

Englewood N. J. , igoo. 



POEMS. 53 



LITTLE SWEETHEART. 

(To a Child's Picture.) 

'HAT SO true as those eyes, 
Sweetheart ? 
Violets in May weather, 
A cloud of blue on the edge of the wood 
Star upon star together. 

What questions deep do they ask, 
Sweetheart ? 

With their gaze serene and tender ? 
For only of love they seem to speak, 

And only of love remember. 

That head is proudly set. 
Sweetheart ! 

To look the wide world over, 
A captain brave in childhood's ranks, 

And mother's chosen lover ! 



Englewood^ N.J., 1903. 



54 POEMS. 



TO MY BOY. 

R. D. E. 

A PRiiv bloom is in his eyes, 

Hints of dews and showers, 
Shadows caught from crystal brooks, 
Dusky tints of flowers. 

All that's wild, and sweet, and free. 

Bird or tree or stream. — 
O ! for childhood's heritage 

The rapture and the dream ! 



Englewood, N.J. 



POEMS. 55 



THE HOUSE OF CHILDHOOD. 

Tf I knock at the house of Childhood, 

Who will come to the door ? 
A head with curls run over ? 
Or beldame quaint and hoar? 

What voice shall say, "Come in, sir," 
Or answer, "Not at home," 

While peals of elfin laughter 
From roof and chimney come ? 

I long to lift the knocker, 
But timid, lest they say 
"We never heard of you, sir. 
Pray come another day." 

Englewood, N. /., i8g8. 



56 POEMS. 



RUTH. 

ATame of quaint and ancient grace, 

In the Sacred Book has place; 
Like that other Ruth hath she 
Looks that breathe love's constancy. 



Englewood^ N. J. igo6. 



POEMS. 57 



TO A CHILD, TWO YEARS OLD. 

C. E. 

^HY soul's a fountain, crystal clear, 

With lilies set about, 
Where rainbow bubbles, like thy mirth. 
Go dancing in and out. 

The shadows that thy spirit knows, 

Are cast by seraph's wings, 
Thou seemestin this sunny air, 

The soul of happy things. 

Hid in the azure robe of June, 

We found thee, darling one, 
The last, the best, most perfect rose, 

She left beneath the sun. 



Portland^ Oregon^ 1884. 



58 POEMS. 



MOTHERHOOD. 

Oj^HE chrism of a child's kiss, 

That accolade "He's mine" 
Were more, when angels ask my rank, 
Than long escutcheoned line. 



Englewood, N.J. 



POEMS. 59 



A CITY ITEM. 

r^ REAT walls of brick that scarcely leave 

A strip of sky between, 
Which ever stays, and ever flows — 

The river of a dream. 
The crescent moon breaks the lucent edge 

Of her cool rim on the eaves. 
And a breath sweeps through that sinful place, 

Like the sighing of Summer leaves. 

'Tis the soul of a tender poet-child 

Asleep in a garret there. 
That hallowed the stones of the city's streets 

To an aisle befit for prayer. 
And up, by the help of the stars, he climbs 

Till he touches the great white throne; 
But all we know is the printed line, 
"Found dead: a child: alone." 



Englewood, N,J., i8gj. 



6o POEMS. 



TO A CH5LD OF THREE. 

S. S. E. 

Ol,owi,Y he learns our rough cold speech, 

With lisps that bubble through, 
Much wiser doth it seeui to me 
That we should learn of him and be 
Taught innocence anew. 

The angel-light still dims his eyes 

To sight of common things, 
Sweet waif from happier clime and fair, 
How sad that in this denser air 

You cannot use your wings. 

Portland^ Oregon, i88g. 



POEMS. 6i 



ENTHRONED. 

lyroTHKRHOOD is mine, 

What care I for crov/n, 
One soft linger on my cheek 
Is for me renown. 

While I rule my realm, 

Poets envy me. 
Enthroned in these tender hearts, 

Childhood's divinity. 



Portland^ Oregon^ 1884. 



62 POEMS. 



CHRISTMAS IN THE TENEMENTS. 

" Unto us a Child is born." 

Ty/TEEKivY, before that humble door, 
Three veiled Kings bend low, — 
The stars above the city's street 

A path of glory show: 
A Caravan of dreams arrives, 

To bear the Babe away: 
So wondrous is this miracle 

That happens every day 1 

Englewood^ N. J. 



LIFE. 



POEMS. 65 



LIFE. 



THE POET. 

A N alchemist of secrets he, 

The Councillor of sky and sea: 
A purer Merlin, Mdthout stain, 

To charm away our grief and pain. 



Rnglewood, IV. /. 



66 POEMS. 



AT "THE BELLS," IN THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 

"C^ROM roof and eaves the bells are swung 

And with a quaint and Orient grace 
Seem mocking plain New England's sky 
With legends of an alien race. 

And hint of gay pagodas hung 

With tinkling bronzes; priests that bow 

In pagan temples, where the gods 

Sit high in state with frowning brow. 

(Strange paradox for village folk, 
Here where the hills come sloping down 

With granite step, and look austere 
To the long street of Bethlehem town.) 

No image but of kindliest mien 

Has ever dwelt beneath "The Bells," 

The welcome that the traveler finds 
Of warmth and friendship ever tells. 

Thus in the household group the first 
Whose quiet greeting we can hear, 

Is she, the home's best arbiter, 
Our Lady-of-good-cheer. 



POEMS. 67 



In duty's simple round she sees 
Life's highest purpose and design, 

The peaks of God are all about, 

Through evening mist the stars still shine. 

She moves among her household ways 
As one, who knowing sadder hours, 

Yet fills the autumn of her days, 

With fragrance of spring's early flowers.. 

And he, the Man-of-books who deep 
Has delved in lore of arts and men, 

Who waits beside the Well of Life 
To hear the Master's word again. 

Or, if on kindly thought intent 

Forgetting self, he richly gives 
The garnered treasures of his mind 

And in another's pleasure lives. 

Next gentle Lide in whose dark eyes 
Star-like there rises a sweet wit, 

Who catches thought upon the wing 
Ere duller souls have dreamed of it, — 



68 POEMS 



And laughing Helen, in whose sky 
Sunshine and shower commingled meet, 

Who challenges the Summer hours 
And follows them with flying feet. 

('Twere long to tell what summer brought 
What gifts of light, or shade, too soon 

"The days of sunny stillness passed 
When earth seemed poised in noon. 

Those argosies of snowy cloud 
That rose and melted in the blue, 

What shores unchartered wrecked their course 
No human pilot knew ! 

The scarf of mist that morning wove 

About each purple height. 
And that red sword that sunset drew 

Across the breast of night. 

_Nor yet were lesser glories lost. 

We heard the punctual bee, 
With cheerful note the cricket thought 

To make a revelr3^ 



POEMS. 69 



The quiet grass was meekly proud 
Her humble place to fill. 

But the first leaf that Autumn took 
With sadness shook the hill). 



Thus as a traveler who stops 

To deck with flowers a wayside shrine 
Remembering blessings he has known 

By virtue of the will Divine. 

So I this slender garland bring 
Of gratitude that friendship tells. 

And pray that happiness may rest 

On each and all, beneath "The Bells." 



Bethlehem, N. H., igoi. 



70 POEMS. 



LOVE. 

"PvEAR, if remembrance make thee sad, 

I pray, remember not. 
And if forgetting make thee glad, 
Then would I be forgot. 



Englewood, N.J, 



POEMS. 71 



EMILY DICKINSON. 

Ohe told the rosary of her days 

Each day a thought of power: 
A cloistered heart aflame with light; 
A soul that only bloomed at night, — 
Like some exotic flower. 



Englewood^ N. /., 1894- 



72 POEMS. 



RICHES. 

A ivKTTER, in a lonely land, 

Music, breathed at memory's call,- 
Dreams, that are of azure planned, — 
Books, the last and best of all. 



Englewood^ N. J. , 7599. 



POEMS. 73 



A PORTRAIT. 



A s one may see above the noisy street 

Some shrined Madonna fair, and still, andsweet;- 
So she life's common jangle set at rest, 

And all the while unconscious that she blest. 



Englewood N.J.,i8g8. 



74 POEMS. 



HER VOICE. 

(To A. S.) 

T> ICH as the organ's note, or harp's deep thrill, 

Echo of sadness, yet of joy the friend. 
Telling of death, of life, and wild unrest. 
Of love's elysium and its bitter end. 

But when the song has ceased upon the air, 

It lingers on in memory to bless 
The soul that hears its messages divine, 

To calm, to heal, to chasten and caress. 



Englewood^ N.J., igo4. 



POEMS. 



75 



DISCOVERY. 

■\T7e; hurry to horizons dim 

While here, beside the door, 
In some familiar countenance, — 

All unexplored before — 
Are zones of tropic beauty, shores 

That over-vie Peru. 
How short the voyage, chair to chair,- 

Yet perilously new ! 

Englewood N. J. , 1894, 



76 POEMS. 



GLORY. 

A ND what is glory? vaunted of great and brave, 

And how remembered ? storm and struggle o'er, 
'Tis but the lip of foam upon a wave, 
That wastes its passion on a lonely shore. 



Englewood^ N. J, iSgg. 



POEMS. 77 



CHARACTER. 

'ITH evening lamp between and book put by; 
So still we sit, — that other guest and I, — 
The pulse, a surging tide in ear and brain, 
Fills all the room with seeming hurricane. 
Nor dare we speak ! An unconf essed fear, 
A sinister meaning hidden many a year 
Waits its release from eyes and brow and lip: 
We turn aside, and smile, and bury it, 

Omaha, Nebraska,, i8gi. 



78 POEMS. 



THE TEACHER. 

(The Rev. J. T. D.) 

■\T7iSK, reasonable, true, 

With heaven-lifted thoughts 
That move to noblest utterance: 
But most we love the heart that warmly beats 
'Gainst the heart o' the world, 
And feels God's strong pulse throb 
In unison with all. 



Omaha, Nebraska, i8go. 



POEMS. 79 



THE OREGON PIONEER. 

TTe) held his course by steadfast stars, 

Through weary leagues of sand, 
Some vision of divine intent 

Beckoned from out that land. 
The peaks of God were holy ground, 

They called him and he came, 
To toil and die, that these might live, 

Nor dreamed his deed was fame. 



Englewood, N. J. 



8o FOE MS. 



HAPPJNESS. 

OlowTvY it comes. — The pearl 
Hides long in Indian seas, 
Ere giving to the tropic air 
Her iridescences. 



Englewood, NsJ., 1893. 



POEMS, 8r 



GOSSJP. 

T TOivD my secret to the air 

Forgetting it had tongue, 
^olus blew once round the world, 
His messages the flags unfurled, 

They told it to the drum. 
The drum the citadel informed. 

And what was meant for me, 
Was heard in dusty Sarmacand 

And by the Yellow Sea. 



Englewood^ N. J. , iSgj. 



82 POEMS. 



TELEGRAM SENT FOR A GOLDEN WEDDING. 

"jVyTAY future years their golden harvests bring 

Till love shall blossom in immortal Spring. 



San Rafael, California, igo2. 



POEMS, 83 



Soon after peace was proclaimed in the Philippines, a friend of the 
author visiting San Francisco, crossed the harbor in a steamer that 
was accompanied by a large flock of sea-gulls. One of these birds 
alighted with outspread wings upon the top of the flagstaff, forming a 
beautiful silhouette against the blue sky. This incident, together 
with the presence in the harbor of the battleship "Wisconsin," sug- 
gested the thoughts transcribed in this poem. 

THE GREY SEA-GULL. 

(A Fantasy.) 

T^ROM the Golden Gate, where the sullen guns 

Look out on a sunset sea, 
On pearl-grey wing a wild gull came 
And brought this word to me, 

" Lo ! the flags are furled, and the moaning drums 
Their requiems sad have sung. 
And peace proclaims to a waiting world 
The new age has begun." 

I looked, and there on the waters blue, 

A white ship rode at rest, 
As on a Summer lake the swan 

Broods calm with lucent breast. 

Her deep guns told of a message grim. 

But hushed were bugle and bell, 
And high on her mast shone the starry folds 

Of the flag I loved so well. 



84 POEMS. 



Still the sea-gull circled, and wheeled, and curved 

And paused in his airy flight. 
And uttered the harsh and solemn cry 

That is born of the ocean and night. 

Till I spoke, and said, **0 bird, sail on, 

You will find no shore like ours, 
Or paths made sweet by Freedom's feet 

And glorified with flowers. 

"Wing your way to the wide earth's farthest rim, 
Where the last slave hides from sight, 
And bear him this message, — a nation's pledge, — 
* It is dawn, and there shall be light.' " 

Then the grey bird perched on the mast, broad-winged, 

Like a symbol of the free, 
A promise of sweet peace to come 

In the Isles beyond the sea. 

The years flow on, and the silver gulls 

Still watch o'er the harbor wide, 
And ever the stars at midnight tell 

Their dreams to the waiting tide. 

EngUwood^ N.J., igoi. 



POEMS. 85 



AMBIT50N. 

TJow purple looms the distant isle 

Our sail will never find, 
While Autumn's glories at the door 
Are left to dust and wind. 



Englewood, N. J. , 1899. 



86 POEMS. 



LUTHER BURBANK. 



A SiMPiyE home-spun gentleman 

Who needs no coat-of-arms 
Or patent of nobility- 
Won in war's brute alarms. 

Strong-hewn from Nature's granite he, 

Heir of her larger lore, 
Eager to turn some hidden page 

And con it o'er and o'er: 

Till in a crucial hour he finds 

The secret of the tree, 
The necromance of bud and flower 

The Eldorado of the bee: 

Father-confessor he, of birds, — 

Blood-brother in the clan 
Of grey night-moths and butterflies, — 

Friend of the shy god Pan. 

Nor has the blight of worldliness 
Within that heart found room ; 

Unconscious of his greatness. 
As a rose is of her_^bloom. 



Englewoodt N. J. , 1904. 



POEMS. 87 



ELLA HIGGINSON. 

Author of " The Land of the Snow Pearls." 

r\^ Nature's listening heart she leans, 

And hears the voice of God, 
The while the mighty snow peaks send 
Their challenge all abroad. 

To cool green caves the glaciers call, 
Where drips a crystal stream; 

To such as she the river tells 
The secrets of its dream. 

The sunset brings her golden bales, 

And argosies of blue, 
While dawn presents the sacrament, 

That "maketh all things new." 



Englewood N../., 



P0E3IS 



THE EGOIST. 

TTe; built his soul a treasure house, 

None ever rose so fair, 
Before it stately fountains threw 
Their mimic rain in air. 

Lo ! far upon a shining height, 
His banners gleamed, their hue 

Of azure set with silver stars 

Mocked heaven's own perfect blue. 

High in a lordly hall he set 

A throne of jacinth clear, 
Whereon his soul might reign and sing 

Sweet strains that none could hear. 

For all alone, he lived and loved 
Within that peaceful place, 

And in the garden pools beheld 
His own dream-haunted face. 

' No home in all the world," he said, 
'* Is half so blest as this. 
Alone, no stain shall reach my soul, 
Nor alter its pure bliss." 



POEMS. 89 



But once by moonlight, as he walked 

The shaded coppice through, 
He met three shapes of Awfulness, 

A hateful, ghostly crew. 

He challenged them to mortal fight, 
They laughed in vilest glee. 
"Thou canst not hide thy soul," cried they, 
"Thy Sins have followed thee ! " 



£nglewood, N,J., 1900. 



90 POEMS. 



A SILVER WEDDING DAY. 

"C^IERCE glows the furnace where the ore is tried. 
And pure the silver that survives the flame ; 
But fear thou not, One walketh at thy side, 
Beyond is Paradise which knows not pain. 



Portland^ Oregon. 



POEMS. 91 



HATE. 

TTaTE is of narrow minds 

Never confessed, 
Next to mighty love it lies 
In gentle breasts. 



EngleTvood, N. J. . 1899. 



^2 I OEMS. 



ALTER EGO. 

T)Y day, by night, he close beside 

With hint of elbow warm, 
He, ghostless, loveless, without shape, 

Keeps step, he means no harm; 
And yet we do not like his touch, 

He half suspects us, too. 
And at some noble moment sneers, 

"Impossible, ior you.^^ 



Englewood, N. y., 1895. 



POEMS. 9S 



HABIT. 

TTabiT is a cruel jailer 

Yet how well-beloved: 
Gyves he sets for foot or finger, 
Nevermore removed ! 



Englewood^ T^. /., i8gg. 



94 POEMS. 



TO MY FATHER. 

A SCiNTiivi^ATiNG Spirit free 

To touch the stars and scan 
The world of men with larger view 

Than smaller nature% can. 
A buoyant mind, that brightened all 

Life's fortune, good, or ill, 
A wit that gleamed but did not wound, 

Or leave the heart more chill. 
A soul that never knew defeat, 

Though dark the battle be. 
The portrait of a chevalier, — 

Dear father, that was thee ! 



Englewood, N. J. 



I- OEMS. 95 



THE REFORMER. 

"Pjaii^y his soul is to the judgment seat 

Dragged, scourged, and spit on; 
Before some little Pilate helpless stands 
And hears the mob without. — 
" Release to us Barabbas, Caesar's king ! " 
And Caesar means, — convention. 



Englewoody N.J., iSgg. 



96 POEMS. 



CARE. 

r^ARE) was a faithful guest, 

In sober vest, 
And kirtle grey, 

She moved beside me day by day; 
And I begrudged the chimney's glow,- 
Not dreaming I could miss her so. 



Englewood, N, J,^ iSgg. 



POEMS. 97 



LIFE. 

TTOW came ? How fled ? 

Viewless, unseen, 
As squadrons of ether 

That convoy a dream. 
Soft came, soft fled, 

The chrysalis swings, 
Wrecked is its satin whorl 

Empty of wings. 



Englewood, N. J. 



98 POEMS, 



TO MOTHER. 

A s some still saint in cloistered niche 

Had walked the world again, 
Bearing the incense of sweet deeds 

Among the haunts of men ; 
So does she bless, and, canonized 

In calendar of home, — 
Finds each day holy, and low roof 
Fair as cathedral dome. 



Englewoody N. /., 1895. 



POEMS. 99 



ADMIRAL SAMPSON. 

(A Portrait.) 

CtkadfasT his soul as Polar star, 

Forgetting self, and scornful of mere pose. 
Duty the single goal, the port afar 

To which the deep tide of his life all flows : 
Humility exalts him thus to be 

Splendidly simple, and most simply great. 
God grant us evermore upon His sea, 

Such Captain, and such faith inviolate I 



£nglewood N. /., i8g8. 



100 POEMS. 



CONVALESCENCE. 

As one who battling with engulfing waves 

At last sights land, and sky, or the sweet stars. 
And feels the grasp of friendly-reaching hands, — 
So we from sickness, and the sea of pain 
Return with conscious bliss to light and love, 
Forgetting the dark realm that lies behind : — 
' Tis then the song of birds, the stir of leaves, 
Have fresher meanings ; familiar faces glow 
Like new found worlds, long sought, and wonderful ; 
The commonplace has commonness no more, 
But all is beauty, touched with deeper hints 
Of that immortal love that bears us all 
Upon its ample bosom, as June skies 
Sustain their squadrons of full sailing cloud. 

EngUwood^ N.J., igoj. 



POEMS. loi 



CHANGE. 

Ohe held me close, as if an arm 

Could bar out Grief and Pain, 
Or finger push Atlantic back 

Into its path again. 
She thought she knew my soul as bird 

The way to parent nest, — 
Yet I another's heart-beat touched 

Asleep upon her breast ; 
She kissed my hand, my icy cheek, 

And knew that I was dead. 
But I/ife and I had only stepped 

A shadow's length ahead. 



Englewood, N. J. , 1894. 



DEATH AND GRIEF. 



POEMS, 105 



DEATH AND GRIEF. 



IN MEMORIAM. 

RAWLEY DUDLEY EVANS, 
(who died April 16, 1905.) 

T AM proud of my dead, of my beautiful boy 

Who went white-souled to God, 
As a star breaks and falls in the sapphire night, 
Like arrow celestial swift winged for flight. 
So sank that sweet life, but not darkness or void 
Was its goal. Mid the radiant host of the spheres 
There was room for my day-star, 
For my youth with his glorious years. 

There was a look of April in his eyes, 

Of dewy woods, and forest's madrigal with Spring, 

Of all things free and sweet. 

That matched the growing soul 

And gave it sustenance. 



io6 POEMS. 

Child, in the light of common day- 
Did we miss thy starward way ? 
Did we, unaware, shut out 
Thy angel visitant with doubt ? 
Hast thou grown so far from me 
I can never compass thee ? 
Knowest thou wisdom past compare ? 
Wilt thou teach me lessons rare ? 
How celestial flowers blow, 
How the sandalled angels go 
Rank on rank with even feet 
On their joyous errands fleet? 
All and more, I fain would ask 
Where thy dwelling, what high task 
God hath set thee, for He knew 
How thy eager spirit grew 
Rich in ardor to explore 
Shores and worlds undreamed before. 
Though the burgeon of the Spring 
Bring us no awakening, — 
When the robin builds his nest 
On the bough above thy rest, — 
May thy love with memory blent 
Be to us a sacrament ! 



Englewood, IV, J., 1905. 



POEMS. 107 

THE DEAD POET. 

In memory of Samuel L. Simpson, Oregon's best loved poet. 

^HE fir tree spreads a shade, 

Her poet's host to be, 
But far his steps have strayed, 
Night is his hosteh-y. 
Hark ! what a troubled note, 
The blue-jay's sharpened cry ! 
]wO, mournfully, twin eagles float 
Silent, across the sky. 

(All heedless of the day, 

How still the poet lies ! 

No tremor to betray 

That last, and great surprise ! ) 

The Cascades far uplift 
Peak upon peak of snow. 
And still the rivers drift 
Seaward in rhythmic flow. 
The rainbowed torrent sings 
Through the blue-tented air. 
All wild, beloved things 
Wait for his coming there. 

(But heedless of the day. 

How still the poet lies ! 

No tremor to betray 

That last, and great surprise ! ) 



io8 POEMS, 

Yet to those hearts that love, 
These friends of sky and tree, 
Time shall but dearer prove 
His spirit's minstrelsy. 
Fresh dawns will bring return 
Of some sweet strain he knew. 
Bach night some star will burn 
His fame upon the blue. 

(All heedless of the day. 

How still the poet lies ! 

No tremor to betray 

The soul's last, glad surprise ! > 



Englewood, N.J. 



POEMS. 109 



ON MY BIRTHDAY. 

TJerK lies a little maid 

I knew in Junes gone by; 
To wake her I'm afraid, 

' Tis like the dread to die. 
The question of her glance, — 

Should she remember me, 
Might an eternity reveal 

And resurrection be. 



Englewood, A'. /. 1896. 



no POEMS. 



THE CONQUEROR. 

'K beat his soul against life's bars,. 
More cruel far than steel, 
So deep the scars they gave him 

No surgeon ere could heal: 
The first was Youth's belief denied. 

The next, the Hope that flies, 
And then, more piercing than them all, 

Love's tragic sacrifice. 
None saw that midnight struggle. 

None guess the victor now 
%Vhen he, a simple gentleman, 

Returns my morning bow. 

San Rafael^ California^ 1902. 



POEMS. Ill 



HEAVEN. 

VToT "I have triumphed," 

But "I'm comprehended." 
And service just begun, 
Not labor ended. 



Omaha ^ Nebraska^ i8gi. 



112 POEMS. 



FRIENDSHIP LOST. 

T DROPPED a ruby, thinking 

To replenish me with pearl; 
But the bazaars were shut that day, 

Their silence echoed "Churl ! " 
So careless of the wealth I'd had, 

No merchant trusted me; 
Ashamed I stood before their door 

And envied enmity. 



Englewood^ N.J., 1894. 



POEMS. 113 



MEMORIAL DAY. 

n^HK smallest creature in the grass 

A resurrection sings, 
New nest, new boughs, and overhead 

An ecstacy of wings. 
The hills have pitched their peaceful tents, 

The fields take council of the sky, 
On last year's graves the violet 

Spills her imperial dye. 
The winds shut lip a secret holds, 

The grass has known it long — 
Taught by the dead, so opulent 

Of time had they become. 

Portland^ Oregon, 1886, 



114 POEMS, 



RETROSPECT. 

Tif cobwebbed corner yield to our surprise 

A toy of childhood's day, these older eyes 
Smile, that so slight a thing could make us glad: 
So we at Heaven's gate may turn and see 
Life as it is, — a gift for infancy. 

Englewood, N. J. , 1900, 



POEMS, TLS 



PRELUDE TO "TRISTAN AND ISOLDE." 

T17AVE on wave the music leaps; 
Violin, and harp, and horn, 
Moaning drum and wailing flute 
To new ecstasies are born. 

Then the Soul, — as some far shore 
Feels the shock of ocean's might, — 

Reels and trembles with the rush 
Of Ivove's deep, mysterious night. 



Englewood^ N. /., i8gg. 



Ii6 POEMS. 



"THE CRYSTAL COAST." 

'" No angel from the Crystal Coast" — "Threnody" — Emerson. 

•Dray not for forgetfulness 

' Tis memory's sword-thrust proves we are not clods, 
Not earthy, but of the spirit shaped and wrought 
To an immortal type, 

This ship we steer may other harbor find 
Than that it sails for ; crystal shores not charted, 
In deeps not plummeted, — by pilots pale. 

Englewoody N.J., igoi. 



FOEMS. 117 



AT A CHURCH DOOR. 

U X)Y Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat" 
Is the cry of human, 
Birth-throes of a soul that waits 
In darkness, as a woman 
Knows the nail-thrusts pain must give 
Ere another child can live. 

" By Thy Cross and Passion," 
Priest and people plead, 
( Beggar in the shadow there, 
Answers this your need ? ) 
Snowy choir, lift it up, 
Wine-filled, like a golden cup. 

" Resurrection and Ascension," 
What is that to you ? 
Long the years since that Face faded 
In the Syrian blue? — 
New ascensions every morn 
Outcast, till thy heart is won ! 

Portland^ Oregon^ 1886. 



ii8 POEMS 



THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 

■/^K young life's guests we welcome all but Pain, 

For her no flower-strewn hearth 
Or smile of welcoming: 
Yet she — the journey ending we confess — 
Has taught us all we know; 
Was wisest counselor, and truest friend, 
Most helped the soul to struggle, and ascend ! 



Englewoody N.J.^igoo. 



POEMS, 119 



HER GRAVE. 

TTZhkrE thrush and robin dip a dewy wing, 

And greet the emerald of recurring Spring, 
Let no harsh note, or discord, break the blest 
And brooding calm that hovers o'er her rest. 
Grow softly grass, and tender wind-flower too, 
So gentle was her life, so sweetly true 
To think of her without love were to say 
"June has no rose ; there are no buds in May : " 
Love was the effluence of her spirit fine 
That walked in peace, leaning on Love Divine. 

Englewood N. J. 



I20 POEMS. 



A FADED FLOWER FROM SHELLEY'S GRAVE. 

"DK too imperial to forget, 

Be purple at that name, O violet ! 



Englewood, N. J. , 1894. 



POEMS. 121 



ESCAPED ! 

^hkre; may have been the sound of wheels 

That hour she went away ; — 
' Twas whispered that she met a sail 

Ready upon the bay. 
No keel I saw, nor any steed, 

Or service of a guide ; 
Only a purple cloud ajar — 

The morning that she died ! 

Omaha, Nebraska, 1890. 



122 POEMS. 



JMMORTALITY. 

TT7HO questions ? Not the crocus. 

Denies? Not beast or bird. 
Blind to that star within us. 
We stumble at the word. 



JEnglewood, N. J. igoo. 



POEMS. 123 



GRASSES FROM KEATS' GRAVE. 

"Dressed in a letter, sent o'er sea 
To make New England,— Italy. 



Englewoody N. /., iSgj. 



124 POEMS, 



GUIDO RENTS " ECCE HOMO.'' 

^HE suffering Christ too oft we see 

Blood on that brow makes all eyes dim, 
Spear point in side, death's augury, 

Prints on the soul the human note in Him. 
Not pierced hands, but strong from blessed toil 

To lift the dead or bless a Magdalene, 
Were His. Our holiest prayers we spoil 

With foolish tears that blur that face serene, 
" If not the poor, the hungry, blind, ye bless. 

Cheap are your Litanies," we hear Him say, 
" Burn shrine and crucif^ to ash, no less 

The heart that loves. My temple is alway." 



Portland, Oregon, 1887. 



POEMS. 125 



RECOMPENSE. 



'^HOUGH Pain hath its own triumph wrought, 
Calvary, at Bmmaus, is forgot ! 



jEnglewood, N, J. , it 



126 POEMS, 



ANTON SEIDL. 

Oo simple, it were strange to call him proud, 

So proud, with artist's high simplicity, 
That each was blended in the richer whole ; 
He nothing asked for self but all for art. 
Music his deity, his shrine and goal. 
What nights were those we watched his poet face 
Glow with rapt mastery, while mounting waves 
Of glorious sound swept all life's dross away ! 
Far to enchanted shores he led the soul 
With " Tristan and Isolde," through deep woods 
We heard the blithesome " Siegfried " wind his horn. 
And all the joy of youth was in the strain. 
O ! hours benignant that cannot return ! 
O ! master-hand that touched with witchery ! 
All chords, all harmonies, and all dissonance. 
Where soars thy spirit now ? 

Englewood, N. /., 1905. 



POEMS, tir 



THE FAULT. 

TT7HEN you reach Heaven 

And miss me there, 
Ask not the blessed 
Why I chose despair. 

One look of scorn from you 
Deeper would burn, 

Than all life's scars 
Through eternity worn. 

Love is not gladness, 
Not triumph, not goal, 

' Tis self's last surrender^ 
A crucified soul ! 



Englewood^ N. J. , igo4. 



128 POEMS, 



THE KISS. 

TTands clasped and eyes entreating, 

To looks that spoke again, 
With continents between us, 

Of lyove and Pain. 
Sacred renunciation, 

The last this side the grave. 
Our lips divinest meeting, 

The kiss we never gave ! 



Englewood, N. J,, igo6. 



POEMS. 129 



THE GRAVE OF HELEN HUNT JACKSON 

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. 

r\ I HAPPY poet, here to lie at rest, 
No queen more nobly tombed. 
For guard, the lightning's lance, 
For requiem, the sobbing of innumerable pines. 
Stars softly gleam above, the winds breathe low, 
And e'en the timid creatures of the wood 
Hush their soft footfall in that hallowed place. 

Manitou, Colorado, i8go. 



130 POEMS. 



EQUALITY. 

"OKAVEN is homelike, we are told. 

To beggars as to kings ; 
And resurrection is a fashion 
Antedating wings. 



Englewood, N. J. , igo^. 



POEMS. , 131 



THE DEAD PAUPER. 

T /"Kii. it from curious gaze, 

That wan face new in death, 
Shall naked soul have less respect 
Than living body kept ? 

Under those waxen lids 

What look of scorn. 
For all your pity spent 

On what's outworn/ 

To mend the threadbare dress 

Eternity she hath ; 
To rest those illshod feet 

A grassy path. 

We have no time to lose, 

Her soul is set 
Ahead in that great race^ 

Where God is met. 



Omaha., Nebraska, i8gi. 



T32 POEMS. 



ON THE SHORE. 

^IME ebbs, but Grief abides — 
Grim flotsam of Life's tides. 



Englewood, JV.J., j8g8. 



POEMS. I3S 



EVOLUTION. 

T^OR aeons lay the earth in darkest night, 

Fierce waged the wars between 
Races and tribes of hairy, brutish men 
Ruled by their gods obscene. 

Slowly as water-lilies pierce the ooze, 

Some rare souls struggled higher ; 
Oft trampled neath feet of blinded men, 

Oft bound on funeral pyre. 

Until on Gallilean hills there walked 

A Youth whose spirit's cup 
Was like a crystal, clear and marvelous, 

Which God with Love filled up. 

Long had He waited, sought and sorrowed long, 
A Son to find among the sons of men ; 

The Christ, obedient, still renew-s the quest, 
Bestowing life, as then. 

Englezvood, N. J. 1904. 



£34 POEMS 



THE COLOR BEARER. 

n^HE cannon had ceased to resound, 

The battle-smoke cleared for a space, 
A light from the old flag above him 

Transfigured his powder-grimed face. 
The oldest and bravest shrank back 

From the desperate charge that was given, 
While he rushed on the shot-smitten wall 

And planted his colors,— in Heaven. 

Omaha, Nebraska, i88g. 



POEMS. 135 



UNDER OREGON PINES. 

n^HE soul of the trees is mine, 

I feel each leaf and stem 
Stir with the pulse earth-mother gives 
To oak and elm. 

But best loved thou, O Pine, 

Whose quickening breath 
Pungent and wild is to my sense. 

And sweet in death ! 

Here in thy shade — 

I ask no holier place,— 
To lie with folded hands, 

And peaceful face. 

No stone or marble cold 

To shadow me, 
Hushed, guarded, sentried, 

And by thee ! 



Englewood, N. J. , 1894. 



136 POEMS. 

MATER PATRIAE. 

(Decoration Day.) 

Suggested by reading the Supreme Court's decision in the Phil- 
ippine case, May 2Qth and 30th, 1901. 

TTpon her arm, ere day begun, 

Fresh garlands had Columbia hung ; 
Her footsteps slow and yet elate, 
To honor those who served the State, 
And chrism of her tears to lend 
The unknown dead who claim no friend. 
Yet sad her look, and that sweet brow 
Darkened with troubled thought, that now 
Not the proud drum or martial strain 
Could change to starry calm again. 

** And must my dream of peace be lost, 
And war with its dread holocaust 
Forever reign, and can there be 
No truce but blood, from sea to sea ? 
Shall new-fledged custom be so strong 
That right shall be the slave of wrong. 
And young lives learn to bend the knee 
To power and lust, forgetting Thee ? — 
God of the dear, the noble dead 
Who for their countr}'^ died and bled. 
Sacred Republic ! holiest shrine 



POEMS. 137 

That freedom kept, what hope was thine ? — 
To sweeten labor's hard-earned day, 
To wipe the sad slave's tear away, 
To walk majestic among men 
When kings did humbly kneel. Lo ! then 
The times were fair for love and truth, 
We wrought for God, not land, forsooth ; 
Dull wealth ruled none in camp or home, 
* Union ' the watchword, and dark Rome 
A spectre shunned, (not praised, held high — 
As if our eagle low might fly 
As hers, and dip its wings in gore 
To make one bloody Caesar more.) " 

Columbia paused, then lifting high 
Her fearless forehead to the sky, 
Adjured the dead : 
'* Shades of a mighty past renew 
Our faltering faith ; may the red dew 
That bathed our battle-fields be sign 
Injustice dies, but freedom divine 
Lives ever ! " Majestic thus she turned to see 
The white dawn's silent "reveille," 
Then, softly scattered vine and rose 
To mark the soldier's last repose. 

Englewood, N.J. 



138 POEMS. 



THE FIRST WOUMD. 

'T^HF, day my heart began to bleed 

I saw the red drops come, 
I saw the sword that made the wound, 

Its hilt with rubies shone ; 
And on the blade so cruel keen 

This legend I could spell, 
In crimson hieroglyphics — 

" From one who loves you well." 



Englewood, N. J. 



POEMS. 139 



CHRIST THE CONSOLER. 

''T^HE Christ I know no priesthood has, 

No altar and no alms, 
He has no hour for liturgies, 

Or incense breathing psalms. 
There are so many broken hearts, 

So much despair and sin, 
So many weary little ones 

That He must gather in. 
And dry their tears, and on his breast 

Hush them at length to sleep. 
The Christ I know a brother is 

To those who work and weep. 

Omaha ^ Nebraska^ i8gi. 



POEMS OF OCCASION. 



POEMS. 143 



POEMS OF OCCASION, 



THE RETURN. 

In memory of Soldiers of the 2nd Oregon, U. S. Volunteer Regi- 
ment, who fell in the Philippines, Col. O, O. Summers^commanding. 

For the strong of soul ; 
Toll; 

In crowded ranks, who gave 
The inspiring shout 
Of Liberty, from youth's full throat. 
Contented death to dare, 
That they might share 
The *'Well done" Santiago heard, 
When the world's deep heart stirred. 

Toll, 

For the pure of soul ; 

Toll; 

The fair head, and the boyish look, 

That War's black wave o'ertook. 

Ere grief had touched the untroubled blue 

Of childhood's wondering gaze. 



144 POEMS, 

Toll, 

For the strong of soul, 

Toll, 

A mother sees beyond the wave, 

Isidro's palms above his grave ; 

She hears "reveille" call. 

But not for him, her darling : 

Orient day grows cold, though steeped in light, 

And all its torrid beauty fades in night. 

Toll, 

For the proud of soul ; 

The Virgin State 

That welcomes late. 

These sons of iron make ; 

Here on her lilied breast pressed down, 

They sleep, and dream not of renown. 

Nor of these garlands, pine and rose, — 

Emblems of beauty and repose, — 

We weave to scatter o'er their rest. 

Who honored duty's stainless crest. 

Rejoice, O State of ours ! 

Spring's earliest flowers 

Speak from the dust : 

Be pure, be just ! 

To larger hopes our hearts are true, 



POEMS. 145 

We seek the task that God will do, 
In the grim path where honor led 
The feet of our beloved dead. 



Englewood^ JV. /. rgoo. 



146 POEMS. 



UNVEILING OF THE R. E. LEE STATUE. 

May 29, 1890, at Richmond, Virginia. 

T TiRGiNiA sends her greeting out, 

With the first morning gun, 
Tiber and Thames shall know to-day 
She welcomes home a son. 

Proudly, the fair-hilled city waits 

The glories of the May, 
The triumph of her Captain true, 

The wearing of the gray. 

Immortal Knighthood wrought in bronze ! 

As love is ever more than fame, 
So thrills in every Southern heart 

The epic of thy name ! 

Not North or South thy worth shall claim 

Along the lengthening years, 
America, in that new birth. 

Shall garland thee (with tears) . 



Omaha, Nebraska, i8go. 



POEMS. 147 



THE LOYAL REBEL. 

Read at a banquet in Baltimore given by the Society of Army and 
Navy of the Confederate States, on the birthday of Ger.eral R. E. Lee, 
Jan. 29, 1891. 

TTuSHKD is the hurrying tread of his trembling charger, 

The dread boom of the gun, 
Quiet the meadow, the stream slips along like a dream thing,. 
Soldier, well done. 

Here at the wheel, in the mart, by the forge-fire. 

Duty he follows as well 
As when with war's fiery cataract o'er him 

He faced death and hell. 

Honor he still loves, his country's the shrine of his best hope,, 

The pride of his years. 
The Old South, enshrined in his soul as one dead is 

Made sacred by tears. 

Ye O ! his children, inheriting peace of the new day,, 

Hopeful and strong. 
Forget not the chrism your happy brows are bedewed with 

Was agony-wrung I 



Omaha^ Nebraska^ 1891. 



148 POEMS. 



IN MERIDIAN. 

Written for the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
founding of St. Helen's Hall, Portland, Oregon. 

TT7HO gives a well, who plants a palm, 

The Arab's three-fold blessing hears. 
Shall hearts less grateful here forget 
The Life that wrought through changing years, 
To build this house, to keep its fount 
Of life unsullied as the snow 
That lifts on far St. Helen's crest 
An everlasting stainless brow ? 
JRather like Bedouins we return 
And tent in this familiar shade, 
Drink from the spirit's crystal pool, 
]Renew old friendships undismayed, 
iRemembering those sweet voiced ones 
Who led us on in storm and shine, 
Finding in sea shell, as in star. 
Some hint as of a plan divine. 

The SchooIv. 
:How oft, as travelers, met to rest 
In some oasis green and fair. 
We saw the past in beauty rise, 
A mirage on the painted air. 



FOEMS. 149 

No caravan from farthest Ind 

But halted at our fountain's rim, 

The camels bearing loads of spice, 

Or Persian stuffs, of color dim 

And weave mysterious, as the text 

Of some old palimpsest. — As slow 

These ancient treasures were unrolled. 

We saw the veils like wreaths of snow, 

And amber anklets rich in hue, — 

Great shawls with leafy broideries thick, 

A peacock fan of irised blue. 

Here, amulets of jade and pearl. 

Henna, for lips and fingers fair, 

Rare chains of silver and of gold. 

That might have shone in Saadi's hair. 

Or, hid in secret bales of silk. 

We chanced upon a naked blade, 

A jeweled yataghan, with device 
♦♦ For good Al Raschid was I made," 

Or double-edged sword that bent 

Like osier on the thumb, and bore 

A text from Koran in the hilt 
" Allah is Allah, evermore." 

And bags of uncut jewels, smooth 

With touch of many dusky hands. 
Here ivories old, and jacinth carved 
In subtle skill of far off lands. 



f5o POEMS. 

The enchanted carpet, too, was there, 

A common rug to foolish eyes, 

And in a box of sandal wood 

The apple — Venus' prize. 

The fleece of gold, and Dian's bow, 

Aladdin's lamp, his magic ring, 

Fatima's slippers, and the seal 

Of Solomon — the king. 

From Bagdad and from Agra, too, 

Daily there passed a lordly train, 

Heavy with spoils of far Cathay 

Sent by the Sultan Suleiman. 

And still the days went peaceful on. 
And still we read beside the palm 
Of Ilion's woe, Ulysses' quest, 
The Lotus Eaters' isle of calm. 
And all the wonders of the Taj, 
With moonstone and lazuli drest, — 
The Shrine of Mecca, and the pool 
That Mahomet had blessed. 
With songs of chivalry and war, 
And ancient paladins of France, 
The Red Cross banner gleaming high. 
Stout-hearted Godfrey in advance. 
Sometimes, with Chaucer ambled on 
To Canterbury, in the train 



POEMS. 151 

Of that good "companie" and true 
To hear their tales again. 

And thus till dusk and night came on 
When Hesper and Orion rose, 
The Pleiads' starry helm aglow, 
Or stormy Leo in repose. 
And that pale Star that truest points 
To pole of duty, — unafraid, 
Though all the hosts of heaven wheel 
And flash their glory. Next the Maid, 
The Virgin with the streaming hair. 
Her garments gleaming through the night. 
And surly Canis, watcher keen ; 
The Hunter, lingering on his height. 
So like familiar friends they call, 
Our answer follows from afar, 
*In some good morrow we shall meet, 
And know your secrets, what they are. 
Then clasping hands, like children wait 
The vision wisdom has in store. 
The prophecy the Master gave, 
His reign of love forevermore." 



Now, as in thoughtful mood we turn 
Toward each other, and in part 



152 POEMS, 

Read o'er the list that memory keeps 
In secret chambers of the heart ; 
Some names are writ in gold, and some 
In tears, but none are quite forgot : 
Like flowers pressed in book of verse 
A lingering fragrance they impart, 
That mingling with the common air, 
A benediction seems to bring, 
Faint promise of the larger hope, 
The breath of a diviner Spring. 



Engltwood^ N.J., 1894. 



POEMS, 153 

A CLASS POEM. 

Proi^ogue. 

n^HE Muses Nine, in groups of three, 
Sat sipping nectar for their tea. 

All happy and in joyous mood 

Save one, — a pretty frown did brood 

O'er her white forehead. Cried the Eight, 
" Why so distressed, what heavy weight 

Of care oppresses. Maid divine ? 

Hath some new poet begged a line? 

Or, seeing pity in thy face. 

In our charmed circle claimed a place ? " 

She answered slow, when thus adjured. 

Vexation in her every word, 
" Much worse, a class poem must be writ. 

The poet begs me furnish it. 

( Not like to him who rang the chime 

Of fifty years in perfect time, 

And gave to mortals, as to us, 

A song that age nor wear can rust.) 

This being wants a theme, at least 

That shall not threadbare be, a piece, 

Not long or short, in nicest rhyme, — 

And wishes it sent in on time. 



154 POEMS. 

But, oh, dear me ! what can be worse. 
Than tinkering at such wretched verse, 
I'll tell her she's ao-oose, and see 
What inspiration that will be." 

FivYixG South. 

How often sounds as day yields up 

Her spirit to the night 
The hoarse and changeful clangor 

Of the wild geese in their flight. 

A magic arrow in midair 
They form with beating wing, 

A strange and melancholy chant 
Floats earthward as they sing. 

Tired pilgrims of the upper blue, 
What shrine seek ye so far ? 

Is there indeed a land of rest 
Beyond the evening star ? 

My thought a bird of passage is 
And follows where they've flown. 

Is there a single human soul 
But seeks some brighter zone ? 

Portland, Oregon, 1881. 



POEMS. 155 

SONG. 

For dedication of the new St. Helen's Hall, Portland, Oregon. 

TTKRE in virgin soil be planted 

Tree of life with generous shade, 
Like the banyan, wide, out-spreading. 
With new needs, new roots be made. 

Here, by mighty hills encircled, 

Raise a shrine for holy thought. 
And may knowledge consecrated 

To the highest aims be sought. 

Science, with its magic vision 

Making common things divine. 
Here shall read earth's fair evangel,— 

Flowers that bloom and stars that shine. 

Here, where flow majestic rivers 

From their fountains to the sea. 
Art shall feel a new upspringing 

Full of richest prophecy. 

Song shall lend its own enchantment, 

Music here an altar find. 
And the best thought of the ages 

Nobly speak from mind to mind. 



156 POEMS. 

What is truest wisdom, teach us, 
Oh ! Thou Light and Life of men 

Be our tasks or great, or simple, 
Childlike may we follow them. 

EngUwood, N.J., 1890. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



POEMS. 159 



MISCELLANEOUS, 



*"ALIS VOLAT PROPRMS." 

Motto of the State of Oregon,—" She flies with her own wings." 

TTER eyes are like the eagle's 

When they look upon the sun, 
Her breast is mirrored in the streams 

That feed this mighty one ; 
Her feet are swift to scale the cliff, 

And climb the mountain pass, 
But most they linger where the plough 

Turns back the dewy grass : 
Her white wings spread in every gale 

That blows the wide earth round, 
Her mission is to feed the world, 

What nobler could be found ! 
Onward and upward be thy flight, 

O ! strong young state of ours ! 
Freedom attend thee, and sweet peace^ 

With all the heavenly powers ! 

Portland^ Oregon, 1887. 



i6o POEMS, 



"SCHERZO." 

' npiS daintiest of measures, 

Between a smile and sigh, 
A gossamer of sound that yields 
A subtle alchemy. 

The sparkle of a fountain, 
The beat of Summer rain, 

The murmured tune of Autumn brooks; 
A bliss that's almost pain. 

It tricks, deludes, and teases, 
Haunts like a gypsy dance, 

Or crisply paces like some dame 
In courts of olden France. 

Of all the magic measures 
That music gave to earth, 
'• Scherzo, '^ thou art the dearest, 
Sprite born of love and mirth ! 

Englewood, N, y„ 1903. 



POEMS. j6i 



AUTUMN ON THE MONONGAHELA. 

TTastk not, O ! emerald river to the sea, 

Still hold thy mirror to the crimson woods, 
The cool green curve of hilltops set between, — 
The magic of thy wonder working moods. 
Tranquil, as some sweet soul to duty true, 

That knows no touch of passion's scarlet stain, 
Bear to our troubled hearts a deeper calm. 
The peace that follows pain. 



Morgantown, West Virginia^ iSgg, 



i62 POEMS. 



LINES ON A CAMEO BROOCH. 

TTKRfi) in a rim of ancient gold are set 
Diana and Endymion. — He as fair 
As when the moonbeam kissed him first 
With chaste white lips, deep in a Grecian vale. 
In Cyprus' Isle a patient graver sought 
With loving skill to shape the amber shell. 
He set a slim crescent in the goddess' hair, 
Lay bare her lucent bosom, and with ease. 
Curved the sweet mouth. Then, with a tightening heart, 
Wrought — though in fear — her "azure-lidded" eyes. 
Fated for happier lot than dusty shelf 
Or mercenary trade, the gem serene 
Glowed on the breast of beauty. Oftentimes 
Shone in a palace as the guest of Kings, 
And so passed on from hand of youth to age. 
Age gave to youth again — as death to life : — 
And lastly, — in an ancient city found, — 
It pleased the quick fancy of a blitheful girl. 

Englewood^ N. J. , J904. 



POEMS. 163; 



WORDSWORTH. 

T IKK some far northern lake his fancy lay, 

Circled with frosty hills, 
Passion he knew not, but that heavenly glow 
Which nearest Deity can bring the soul 
He felt, in every wood, by sylvan stream 
Or hill, and saw divine significance in alL 

Omaha, Nebraska, i8go. 



t64 poems. 



J. F. MILLET. 

'T^HO' the sad burden of the earth 

Lay heavy on his breast, 
This manly Sower flung afar, 
Seeds of immortal rest. 



jEnglewood, JV,J., i8gg. 



POEMS. 165 

VENUS DE MILO. 

''T^HIS Venus ? She with amber hair 

And looks of laughing mirth ? 
Ah, no, some nobler destiny 

Did consecrate this birth. 
Her sweet, stern lips are duty's own, 

That mien serene and high 
As one who in heroic hour, 

I/Cads on to victory. 

A daughter of fair Greece who made 

Her country's fame secure ; 
Some priestess of the vaulted wood, 

Or mother, proud and pure : 
All these we dream while waiting 

Her queenly step to hear. 
With the same awe as he w^ho wrought 

Her form in love and fear. 

The groves are silent where the dove 

Once sighed in Venus' name. 
Blackened and torn her altar stairs, 

Quenched the ambrosial flame. 
But art supreme forever claims 

All beauty as its own, 
And breathes a sacred lesson still 

From the mute sculptured stone. 

Englewood^ N. J. , i8g8. 



[66 POEMS. 



A MEXICAN SHRINE. 

''TpHE cactus, bleeding red at every pore, 

Still hides her thorns with beauty. 
Here in the quiet shade of convent walls, 
All ghost-like broods the past, 
And kneels in turn at every sacred shrine. 
Where fading saints, and sad-eyed Marys wait 
The homage of their scattered worshipers. 

Portland, Oregon, 1886 



POEMS. 167 



ROSTAND'S CYRANO DE BERGERAC 

r^ ASCON, tender and brave, 
Gascon, bitter and true, 
Better a leaf from thy grave. 
Than a rose that no sacrifice knew ! 



Englewood, N. J. , 1900. 



i68 POEMS. 



WAGNER'S SIEGFRIED. 

"Drother of bruin and of bee, 

Thy woodland banter gladdens me! 
Care forgotten — spirit free, 

Through thy song's rich alchemy! 



Englewood^ N. J. , 1899. 



POEMS. 169 



ART. 

Written in the Congressional Library, Washington. 

"VTOT all the temples blue ^gean knew, 

Nor grove of nymph, nor shrine of Delphian seer 
Could teach the nations how fair Justice grew. 
Or find God's answer to a helot's tear ! 



Washington^ D. C. 



lyo POEMS. 



DRESDEN CHINA. 

/^ve;r seas they came one day, 

The little Maid and He, 
With a lute across his shoulder, 
Watteau gown had she. 

Underneath the fragrant linden 

Gently does he woo, — 
And she answers, as he questions, 

"Mad Chen, wilt be true?" 

Time that brings us each a sorrow 
Leaves them quite alone, 

Happy in the forest stillness 
Hand in hand to roam. 

Ever loved and ever lovers 
' Neath the greenwood tree, 

Dainty little maid of Dresden, 
How I envy thee ! 



Omaha, /Nebraska, 1890. 



POEMS. 171 



TO AN AUTOMOBILE. 

T^ocir^K steed, with nerves of steel, 

Bid old Time to have a care, 
Tell him that with silent wheel 
We have tracked him to his lair. 

All his shams are useless now, 
Silly tales for childhood's ear ; 

Youth has borrowed wisdom's brow, 
Age grows younger every year. 

Smite upon his door of Snow, 

Offer him a pardon free, 
If he'll leave Wife Care, and go 

Automobiling with me. 



Englewood, N,J., i8g8. 



172 POEMS 



WITH A CUP AND SAUCER. 

AT/iTH the good things of life 

May your cup be abrim, — 
Kind friends, and a spicing 

Of good luck thrown in ; 
And may Fortune, while brewing 

The drink for each day, 
Use her best spoon to sweeten 

Your cafe-au-lait. 



Portland^ Oregon. 



POEMS. 173 



FOR A SCRAP-BOOK. 

Tj^RAGMENTS cauglit from off the tables, 

Of the wise, poetic, great ; 
With crisp crumbs of wit and fancy. 
Here your appetite await. 



Portland, Oregon, 1885, 



174 POEMS. 



CALIFORNIA ORANGES. 

'T^HE hoarded gold of sunset seas. 
True apples of Hesperides ! 



Englewood^ N. J. , 1905, 



POEMS. 175 



QUESTIONING. 

TTow can a bird bear 

The rapture swift of wings, 
What fortitude of joy sustains 
That clear note he sings ? 

How do the planets keep 

Their sentry withovit shout, 
Or challenge to that other host 

Bncamped round about ? 

In immemorial years 

What countersign was given, 

What thought of God within their arcs, 
What augury of heaven ? 



Portland^ Oregon. 



176 POEMS, 



THE ROSES' FAREWELL. 

A iviTTiyiC waner in the cheek, 
More fragile in the stem, 
They could not bear to say go©d.-bye, 
I^est I should weep for them. 

They told the bee the secret, 
And he, with busy tongue, 

Informed the garden of the hour 
When their sweet life was done. 

So silently they passed, the noon 
In stillness held its breath, 

A flight of petals on the grass 
Was all the sign they left. 



Englewood^ N.J.^ igo6. 




X^; 





